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Monday, October 13, 2014

Mommy Monday: Preparing for Solids

At our four month appointment, our pediatrician told us that when Henry started to become interested in our food, grab at it, and mouth for it, he would be ready to introduce solids. She said it would likely be around the five to six month mark. Well low and behold, peanut is now five months old and is all about what mommy and daddy are eating.

Of course, we had no baby spoons, bowls, plates, etc. Nor did we have any baby food supplies. So this weekend, Kirk and I went out and about to pick up the necessary supplies to introduce some REAL food to our little goober!

But first, brunch! We hit up a place called Toulouse on Saturday morning for brunch. Benedicts, bloodies, and beignets served as fuel for this exciting adventure:

A French brunch for fuel as we prepared baby for solid foods. No, we didn't feed Henry any of this!

After that, we headed over to Pottery Barn Kids to pick out ceramics and to cash in a bunch of gift certificates we received from Henry's birth. We decided on three bowls, three plates and two boxes of spoons. I thought about some of the sippy cups, but I think we're a ways out from that and y'all know me - I don't want that crap hanging around my house unused! So we'll wait until Lil' H is a bit older for those.

Our pedi recommended oat cereal as opposed to white rice cereal, as that has essentially no nutrition and the oats at least provide fiber and iron. She also said to start with orange veggies, like sweet potatoes, squash and carrots (these go over the best with a baby-palette) and eventually introduce green veggies. She said we should hold off on fruits so that Henry doesn't develop a taste for the sweetness and refuses to eat anything else.

Dishes: Pottery Barn Kids; baby food: Whole Foods

I thought she had excellent advice for us! I hope to cultivate an adventurous eater and I certainly don't want to promote a sweet tooth early on. I also don't want to feed him "filler" food - aka nutritionally devoid rice cereal.

You have to make many decisions and compromises as a parent. Excellent nutrition and eating habits is something I will fight tooth and nail for because it effects all other areas of your life; from cancer to heart disease to obesity/weight issues and beyond.

We were going to try solids this weekend, and thus I *would* have some hilarious and adorable pics of Lil' H to include here, but I was warned by several of my friends with slightly older babies that introducing solids causes some nasty constipation. We're taking Henry on his first flight later this week, so we're holding off on actually feeding him this good stuff until we come back. Because nobody wants a screaming or fussy, constipated baby on a flight. Nobody.

Interesting about rice cereal, I had no idea! I will keep that in mind for oat cereal. I'm with you, I hope to cultivate an adventurous eater - eg not me!! I am picky and I hate it, I want my kids to like everything!

I have an almost 16 lb 4 month-old (breastfed) and his pediatrician said we can start solids :). Thanks for pointing out the nutritional value of oats over rice. I totally wouldn't have thought of that! I have a 12 and 10 year old too, but it's amazing how much of this baby stuff you forget over the years!

You have one big boy! Henry was 15.5 pounds at 4 months, so I hear ya on the big babies. Isn't that the truth about forgetting?! I've already (allllllmost) forgotten how much I despised being pregnant and will probably get fooled into doing it again in the next year or so. Ha! But there's so many things to know about babies and the info is always changing, I'd certainly forget it all with a 10 year gap.

I always tell my patients (well when I was in primary care land) to start a new food on Monday that way if you start on the weekend and they have any reactions most offices are closed and it's a PIA to get in somewhere on the weekend. All the exciting things with kiddos.....it's like new accessory time! ;-)

Beware! Airplanes do something to kids & pooping... On our first flight our second kiddo (at the time) was 14 months old. We flew from Appleton, WI to Phoenix, a 3-4hr flight. I packed five diapers thinking it would be plenty. I only had one left & was getting nervous!!! Yes, he pooped four times on the flight. Good luck & be sure to ask the flight attendants which bathroom has the baby changing pulls down ;)

HAHAHAHA! I've found that anytime it's just a bad time for a baby to poop, that's exactly when s/he'll do it. Good tip about the changing table, too! I thought all of them had one... Guess not? Oh, this will be an adventure...

Hey, I'm Paige

Yoga junkie, top-knot connoisseur and health nut who doesn't shy away from a good IPA and a cheeseburger

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